Imperial Flags Reign Across The Galaxy
by Writers Geek Realm
Summary: A Scoundrel, A Rebel, A Thief, and a Wanderer get pulled into an adventure. (First real attempt at fanfiction, constructive criticism welcome. I am using this series as a warm up. That means quality might noticeably vary.)
1. Rough Start

A Scoundrel, a Rebel, a Thief, and a Wanderer

She had a dream of stars. That dream led to curiosity. Curiosity led her to stow away on a ship. That ship led her to an eventual life on Coruscant. It wasn't much of a life, to most but it was far more than what she would've been given if she'd stayed at home.

It was still a habit for her despite all the stormtroopers around. To be a thief, one had to have a keen eye. To study for easy targets. Would they notice her slip her fingers into their pockets feeling for credits? Would she need to actually start a conversation with them? Could she get away with them not knowing her face at all? Most imperial citizens were pretty tame in the big cities as far as reaction goes. They would only shout for the nearest stormtrooper to give a description that was usually useless. But today was different. The air was thick with tension. She couldn't point out why...so she studied potential targets. She learned how to tell if they had a weapon tucked away or if their wallet and credits were in an unusual place...

Her blaster pistol was tucked away in her bag. She had a dark gray hood scarf that ran down almost to her waist. It cupped her head in a way that looked cute to some. A weapon she used against people who tried to flirt with her. She had blue thermal gear, a brown vest, combat pants and boots. This was her outfit for the market. She was there for food today. She had no intention of stealing anything today. But she still couldn't resist picking out easy targets in the crowd.

She handed the seller a few credits and put her small bag of fruit away into her sack. She swung it around back onto her shoulder smiling her thanks. She pressed on through the crowd. Coruscant used to be the center of the galaxy. Housed a massive galactic senate, was the capital of the republic...but then the clone wars ended, the empire was born. And then the endless city was left behind...

The Galaxy moved on with time. But the sprawling city had fallen from grace even with the empire's occupation of "maintaining the peace." The occupation was mainly on the surface. The deeper you went into the slums of the planet, the more unlawful things became. Even slave trafficking was starting to boom again. When you empower one moron, you give them all power. They treated every race as if they were lesser.

The girl paused several times getting some things for the week. She would take them back to the shack of her home. She paused at the last tent of the market. They specialized in sweets that melt in your mouth and just imagining something buttery and sugary sitting on her tongue for a fleeting second was too tempting of an offer to refuse. She almost cursed herself when she counted the credits she had left. But she forked the ones needed over all the same.

She was then walking away with the small sweet cake in cupped in her worn fingerless-gloved hand. Her boots clicking against the rusted metal floor. A stormtrooper squad brushed past her as they aimed to patrol the market. No doubt they were there because someone made a claim on a shop owner. Perhaps it was someone who was slighted. Or maybe it was someone looking to thin the competition. Whether it was right or wrong, it didn't matter. They would get the attention of an imperial squad. She tried to look as uninteresting as possible as the rest of them passed her.

She took a small bite of her sweet cake smiling a bit as she did. It was the simple pleasure in life she looked forward to. It was sadly all she had to look forward to...

Her mouth twitched when she swallowed. She intended on saving it, but gave in, eating the rest of it as she took a shuttle bus back to her district. Her home was on the third floor above a cantina. She accended the dark stairway pressing her fingers to the door latch so it slid open. Her home had a heater that didn't work in the winter. An air conditioner that didn't work in the summer. She took her groceries out of her bag and tossed the bag onto her couch and walked over to her kitchen to put her groceries away.

She pushed open the fridge hearing a creak. She paused keeping completely still. After hearing nothing for several seconds she continued for another moment only to stop abruptly on purpose. She heard it again, this time it was quieter, whoever it was they were good. She curled her fingers into a fist. Someone was in here with her. They were in her home...

She debated her options, imperials would've just busted her upon entering. No this...this was someone who had a vendetta. They were going to kill her and attempt it quietly. One of her victims might've have recognized her and hired someone to get her. It didn't matter...she had some unwanted attention now. She put the last of her groceries away and slammed the fridge closed.

Her blaster pistol was in tucked away in the bag she'd tossed to the couch. Her home was deathly silent now whoever they were, they must've realized that she was on to them.

She had a staircase and a hallway on her left. They could be in either one. What was worse they were essentially between her and her weapon, and they might have one of their own. She glanced towards her couch again. She huffed quietly as she weighed her options. Both her hallway and the staircase to the floor above where she slept would both lead her to another weapon she could use. But she had no way of knowing that if someone was there until it was too late. Her blaster pistol in her bag would have to do, but someone was in her way.

She remained silent as she shifted herself to a better position to bolt straight for the couch. She heard breathing that wasn't her own. It was quiet and subtle. She made her move. Her boot hitting the floor beneath her harshly. She'd have to fight her way through them if they got in her way.

By the time her other boot hit the ground she could hear rapid movement. The figure stepped out from the staircase a Boltcaster bow in hand. She sprinted as fast as she could intent on knocking them down long enough to get her own weapon. But she didn't expect the intruder to be a Trandoshen. They were big and this one was strong enough to take her charge in stride. She ran into them only to be peeled off with one arm and thrown back into the kitchen knocking over some of the glass jars and many of her utensils over as she tumbled over her counter top sliding back into her fridge. The jars she hit shattered as they impacted the ground, her utensils clattering around her.

She grabbed her side applying pressure to see if there were any major injuries. Thankfully there none. She looked quickly back up as she heard them taking rapid steps towards her. The counter would've normally hidden her, but Trandoshans had a sort of inferred vision. She looked to the side where it would be coming for her and clambered onto her counter grabbing a knife from that had been knocked free from its container and jumped over at the Trandoshan.

The Trandoshan had lost its chance for silence and aimed down the sites of its weapon. But it had to readjust its aim, it was expecting her to attack from the front the kitchen's exit, not from over the counter. As it readjusted it fired narrowly missing her side. It raised its arm and swatted her away again onto the floor beside him.

Her gray hood scarf had fallen off her dark hair a bit disheveled due to the fight. She groaned twisting herself around, kicking the tip of his bolt caster away. She could hear it blast the ground beside her chest. The heat from the discharge rippled near her skin. She tucked her head kicked herself off rolling forward she kept that knife in hand as she stood up again. The Boltcaster was leveled towards her stomach again. Out of options, she latched onto it, taking care not be in its way when it discharged twice.

It's yellow eyes narrowed as it angrily swatted at her across the face its claws extended.

She felt her skin rip and held onto the weapon for dear life. She retaliated by sticking the knife into the wrist of the hand that was holding his gun. She pulled the knife back as quickly as possible.

The pain forced the Trandoshan to drop its gun. It growled, grabbed her, and threw her off this time with real strength behind it. Her side smashed the wall above her couch chipping the concrete and left a spot of blood. She tumbled down onto the couch tumbling onto the floor. She reached desperately for her bag fumbling for her weapon. The handle of her blaster came into her grip and she ripped it out of the bag leveling it at the Trandoshan.

It weighed its options too, by the time it reached for its Boltcaster she would have fired. It sprinted for her as fast as its legs could carry.

She managed to fire once impacting embedding a burn on the Trandoshan shoulder. But it tackled her back, smashing its grooved head into her chest as it ran them both into the wall.

She could taste blood in her mouth. But now she had both hands full with weapons while the Trandoshan had only its claws. Before the Trandoshan could slash her throat she drove the knife into its shoulder cutting through the thick fabric of its outfit. She used every ounce of strength she had in her legs to push the Trandoshan off, only for the briefest of seconds.

It reeled back grabbing at the knife she'd shoved into its shoulder.

She fell to the ground rolling away and leveled her blaster.

The Trandoshan pulled the knife out looking for her only to see that she was out of reach.

Her finger squeezed the trigger and held it in place. It fired several times as the Trandoshan tried to react. But the green creature never felt the floor.

The silence of her home fell once again and she slumped against the wall grabbing her side. A groan of pain escaped her lips sitting in the dark of her house. She didn't know how long she sat there for but it was nearly evening when she finally had the strength to move. She dragged herself across the floor, broken glass biting into her hands. She finally found the strength stand, leaning herself against the wall as she clambered down the dark hall towards her medical supplies.

But luck wasn't on her side tonight. She heard someone kicking down her front door exclaiming over the dead Trandoshan. She was too tired now. Too exhausted she felt herself consciousness slip away into sleep on her floor, pain wracking every inch of her body. She heard the figures walking towards her.

She was cold. She continued to blink her eyes into focus. Metal bars came into focus in front of her. She groaned sitting up and looking around getting a sinking feeling as she did so. A metal cage she concluded. Her clothes had some blood stained on them, however, her wounds had been treated. She scanned the darkened room for anything else that was familiar. She could see a crate with her weapons on it. Her blaster pistol and cycle rifle. On her rifle she could see her sort of spray paint markings on it, it was hanging on what looked to be a weapons rack.

She moved to try and change her angle of sight but heard metal dragging and felt a weighted pressure on her limbs. Her hands were cuffed together and her legs chained to the cage. "Shit." She huffed to herself as she fully realized her predicament. Her palms and wrists were covered in bandages. Her fingertips were cold on her face, but she could feel the bandages in place.

Then she heard a door slide open and a switch flipped to illuminate the rest of the area. She blinked, there were dozens of others in cages like her.

They were fucking slavers. She pushed her hair behind her ear, the cuffs and chain making what was usually a simple task much harder. By the time she had finished one of them was looking at her.

He was a man who had mixed armors from many different places. Three line scars that ran vertically down his cheek. Half of his hair was shaved off and he had Tattoo on his right eye. He tilted his head looking down at her. "You're the girl who killed our boss."

She tilted her head looking up at them, her eyes narrowed in question.

The man shook his head for a moment. "The Trandoshan."

She sat back leaning against the cage away from him. "Are you expecting an apology? He was trying to kill me." She inquired mockingly. Her eyes glancing around the room at the others in cages watching their interaction with growing curiosity.

He shrugged. "Not really, the guy was a dick." He looked around at the others besides her, his rifle hanging loosely.

She huffed out a chuckle. "Yeah, must be the case with the lot of you."

He tilted his head with a smile. "Got a make a living someway." He scratched his chin. "Besides, you're hardly want to talk thief."

Her eyes narrowed again.

He waved nonchalantly at the unspoken question. "We pick out our potential targets by making sure they're isolated. People that wouldn't be missed, that sort of thing. He wasn't there to kill you, he was there to stun you and drug you."

She laid her head back against the bars. "Charming."

"Stytes, get back up here we're approaching the system."

The man before her shrugged towards her. "You fit that description perfectly." He walked off talking louder. "I'm coming."

When they were out of hearing ranged she leaned over to the closest cage. There was a young man there. He was covered in water that rolled off the ends of his hair, dripping onto the floor. She scanned around one more time. "Where are we going?"

It wasn't the man who answered it was Twilek in the cage above her. "They're taking us to an ice planet named Rhen Var in the outer rim. Since the clone wars, it's become almost like Tatooine. Only colder." She tilted her head looking down. "I'm Kayla."

The thief smiled up at her. "Rayn" She stated simply.

It was less than fifteen minutes the ship shuddered slightly as they landed. An alarm sounded as big doors opened and a ramp extended. Below freezing temperature air rushed in. She tugged her clothes closer to herself wrapping herself as much as she could into her jacket. Her gray scarf was still around her neck but she couldn't reach back to pull its hood up to cover her ears.

The man with scars returned having holstered his weapon onto his back. He waved to someone down the ramp. He looked back and walked towards Rayn's cage. He latched her cage to the Kayla's with a strap. Then did the same connecting to the cage beside her with the young man and then the one above them that was next to Kayla. Others came up from the ramp getting the weapon crates and others. She saw a man in brown coat look at her blaster pistol and then put in the crate.

Another man and woman came out from the cockpit area and helped to push the cages that were latched together. She stared out into the icy world below as they slid the four cages onto a sled. She could see a massive fur animal latched onto it that was currently sitting down in the snow. She saw at least a dozen other figures were moving around. Prepping similar modes of transportation.

Stytes pulled up a cowl to cover his mouth and nose from the cold. He put on a jacket over his armor and walked back up the ramp to slide more of the cages down the boarding ramp.

Rayn looked to her left when she heard shaking. It was the man who's been covered in water. She could see the water starting to form to ice in his hair and his clothes.

She heard Kayla sigh. "He isn't going to make it. It's nearly a two-mile journey from here to the spaceport."

Rayn's mouth twitched and sat back to face him. All she could do was sit and watch him die.

He was a tough kid for sure. He'd survived at least halfway to the spaceport before the cold had finally done him in.

Frost clung to her clothes. She struggled not shiver but as far as she could tell Kayla was in no better condition than herself. The cave above her rattled.

Rayn could feel the metal cuffs on her skin starting to bite and burn because of how cold it was.

It was only the half way point.

She closed her eyes and resided herself to her fate. She was certain her eyes had frozen shut by the time she vaguely heard a large door opening. Eyes and frost clung to her very red skin. The heat from the interior was welcoming to everyone.

Stytes pulled down his cowl wiping away some of the frost he looked over at her with a smile and started to walk over.

Rayn was shivering hugging her limbs to her center as much as she could. It was all she could do at the moment to warm herself.

He leaned on her cage looking down at her. "Don't worry, this place will warm you up in a bit."

She still couldn't bring herself to but she looked over at the boy.

Stytes only shrugged. "He asked for water so we obliged him."

Her eyes met Stytes. It was only now that she had a full understanding of their situation. She never wanted to outright kill someone before. They were far from The Empire now, and the Galaxy was still tearing itself apart.


	2. Trusting Strangers

"Tomorrow we will be showing you off to prospective buyers so please be on your best behavior."

Stytes was quiet behind their apparent new leader. But as soon as he was finished he made a move towards her cupping her chin. "I wouldn't worry too much, I'm thinking about buying you for myself."

She bit down a response that likely would've gotten her in more pain. Instead, she only glared at him.

Stytes smiled at her before walking off down the corridor. He put his arm around one of the others and said. "Hos, you guys are double shift tonight." The door to the bay shut.

She huffed as she looked away from him to the rest of the room. She thought it looked like a zoo almost. There might've been a hundred people around the room. Some were going back to sleep in corners others continued to play a card game in the center. She was angry that no one cared enough to do anything about their predicament. A hand grabbed her shoulder.

Rayn whipped around grabbing the other person by their collar and raising her fist to strike them.

Kayla had held up her hands in surrender. "Woah woah, it's only me." The Twilek smiled at her in a way that made her regret her defensiveness.

Rayn's mouth twitched slowly lowering her fist before letting go of Kayla. She took a step back from her. "Sorry." She muttered.

The green Twilek shook her head. "It's alright, I kinda of get it." Kayla's bright smile faded slightly. "I want to check your bandages." She could see the question pass over Rayn's gaze. "I was studying to be a doctor. They had me check over wounded prisoners they brought back. The Trandoshen was never gentle with its prey."

Rayn starred at her for a moment but just nodded.

Kayla gestured to one of the smaller containers for Rayn.

The thief groaned her tense muscles starting to relax. She could feel the pain and all her sore joints as she slowly sat herself down.

Kayla ran her fingers across the bandages. "This would be so much simpler if we had access to Bacta. But apparently, we aren't worth even a small container of that liquid."

Rayn just sighed. "Everyone in the galaxy is out for themselves, why would slavers be any different?"

Kayla muttered something quietly before speaking in her full voice again. "Hold still, this is going to sting."

Rayn blinked looking up at her...ally. She was unsure of how to react to Kayla's quiet spoken words. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting as a reply, but it certainly wasn't what Kayla had said.

 _Not everyone is out for themselves._

She was ripped from her thoughts as she felt Kayla tug at her bandages. At Kayla's request, she removed her jacket and vest so she could look at her shoulder.

Kayla realized her presence was making Rayn start to tense up again. "Where did they find you?"

"In my house. I had just gotten back from the market. The Trandoshen was waiting for me." When Kayla gave her a nod. Rayn started to tug her jacket and vest back on. Her scarf being tucked beneath the jacket.

Kayla's eyes narrowed. "You were the talk of every prisoner on the ships."

"Ships?" Rayn inquired.

Kayla nodded. "You were out of it for a couple days. I was actually surprised to see that you awoke so soon. They transferred us from different ships. To help lose any tails of people that might be following them." Kayla started to peel off a bandage that was on Rayn's cheek. "The Trandoshen had managed to get most of us. We saw his goons dragging you in and he was nowhere to be seen."

Rayn huffed a smile. "Tough bastard. If I had known he was a slaver, I would've shot at him until he was unrecognizable-"

Kayla tore off the rest of the bandage in a swift motion that made her cheek sting.

Rayn's let out a gasp of pain. "Ah." She bit down on her tongue. "Some warning next time would be nice."

The Twilek chuckled. "Sorry, and noted." The skin was healing itself rather well, but she deduced she'd have to wear the bandages for a few more days. Instead of a long bandage that ran diagonal across her face, it was three separate smaller bandages. It was a way to conserve their likely limited medical supplies. Kayla went about removing all of them and replacing them. One on her right cheek, another diagonally across her nose, and then the last above her left eye.

"What about you?" Rayn asked quietly. "Where did they find you?"

Kayla's mouth fumbled as she searched for an answer. She looked at Rayn's palms and wrists to avoid meeting her gaze. "I-Min-I was on an asteroid facility looking for a friend."

Rayn's eyes narrowed.

Kayla's mouth twitched. "I-" she sighed taking a breath pausing her work. "How much do you trust me?"

Rayn shook her head. "I'd trust you more if you'd said the truth." Her words came out bitter.

Kayla visibly flinched but she did her best to recover quickly. She pressed her lips together as she picked her next words very carefully. "It's part of the truth." She stated simply as she took a step back. "That's the best I can do." She wasn't so sure if she was referring to her patch job or how much she could tell the thief.

Rayn rubbed the back of her neck looking up at her. "Thanks." She stood back up taking a look around the room. She could already feel eyes on her. If Kayla was to be believed, news of her killing the Trandoshen had already spread throughout the large room as fast the wind could carry it.

The large room was almost the size of a small hanger. There was only one exit and entrance. Guards were absent from the catwalk above them. Rayn tugged at her scarf straightening it as she looked around. It was a habit, for a thief to mark people by their faces. She began to pick out people who were harming other fellow prisoners and ruled them out of her list of potential allies. She was studying people to see who'd be willing to help her.

An elderly man cleared his throat. Someone who'd noticeably been here for a while. He called her, Kayla, and the other people who had just arrived over to him. He and the few others around him started handing out bedrolls. "Rations are limited, one neutrino bar per day. Depending on how many of us are sold on the morrow, we might be able to up that to two bars a day." There was something in his voice that bothered her. An air of brokenness.

Rayn wasn't sure how to feel about that. It didn't bode well for any escape attempt that she wanted to be planning.

A bedroll was shoved into her hand. It was freshly cleaned, but it the material wasn't in the greatest shape. It was worn and torn in places. Used before she concluded. Many times. She poked her fingers through some of the exposed cloth. It was surprisingly softer than her old bedroll that was on the floor of her old home.

She looked around for a place to set up what would be her spot for the night. Being as untrusting as she was she settled on some crates that had been stacked in one of the corners.

Kayla had followed her.

Rayn climbed on top of the first stacked crates, then onto the second. The levels of crates were shaped like large steps put into the corner. She flipped open her bedroll and looked down at the first level of the crates.

Kayla was there setting up her own bedroll.

Rayn's mouth twitched. Despite the tension between the two of them, it was obvious that they only had each other to back each other up. Rayn had worse people to watch her back. Now, due to their previous chat she had the impression that Kayla had as well.

Rayn hopped back down to where Kayla was. She peeled back the wrapping of the neutrino bar and bit down. She hadn't eaten in several days and was starting to feel it now that she's had the time to relax and her adrenaline was subsiding. She settled with one leg hanging off and the other tucked to her chest.

The green Twilek rubbed dirt off of one of her tails, taking a quiet seat beside Rayn. Silence hung for a few moments as they both continued to observe the buzz of the room.

A guard came up onto the railings that overlooked everything below. They walked across it slowly getting the picture of where everything and everyone was. They paused as they saw a commotion.

The two of them saw it too. Their slightly elevated position just provided them a better view. A loud argument was turning into a fight. The bigger man held up his hands trying to avoid it. The other stalked closer towering over him and hit him square in the jaw. Others around the two rushed forward grappling them to prevent the fight from going any further.

A shot rang out striking the bigger man in the chest.

Rayn's eyes trailed back up the guard who started lowering his weapon. She could see that there was a scope on the rifle. A crack shot.

The towering figure laughed heartily and threw off the others who were holding him back. He started beating up on the dying if not already dead man.

Rayn's whole body seemed to twitch. She surged forward only to feel Kayla holding her back.

"Don't" she whispered. "He's already gone."

Rayn's mouth pressed into a thin line of disgust. Not towards the doctor, but towards everyone else in the room. They couldn't afford to pick fights with each other. Not when they all needed to get away-

It hit her like a hammerhead corvette. It was purely a selfish reason for her wanting to escape so soon. She needed to get out tonight. She didn't want to find out what a man like Stytes would do to her if he "owned" her. Her mouth twitched anger and a feeling helplessness was settling in. She wasn't yet broken like the old man. But she could certainly see the appeal of flipping that switch to become something subservient. It would make the pain easier. That was the point of submission to a master.

Kayla tugged her back to reality. "We need to focus on figuring a way out of here. Fast."

Rayn's mouth formed into a hint of a smile. It was nice to know that the only person you could remotely trust was someone who hasn't lost their sensibilities. Hopefully, a few of the others hadn't as well...

* * *

"Shut up Q." The man said as he continued to fold the cards. He was tall and had short black hair. His stature was as rough as his unclean shave. It was obvious to anyone he'd seen too much for his age. He had a patch running over one eye and a scar's edges protruding out from underneath the patch. He a dark blue coat with a brown vest underneath.

The droid tilted its head. "I'm just pointing out that I can shuffle the cards efficiently, more effectively, and more professionally than you."

The man in the dark hair cursed. "I can't believe that of all the droids who I could've picked, I just had to pick you."

"I calculated only fractions of a probability that you would pick an Astrometric's droid over me. Reading your file, you hate being in space without someone or something to talk to because it would-"

"Shut up Q." He reiterated trying to stare harshly at his towering friend. He was failing. He dished out the cards to distract himself and try to pull his friend's attention back to the task of kicking his fauxsmug ass at card games.

Who knows, he might actually win...right?

The droid slowly iterated his mouth highlighting as it slowly pronounced every syllable. "Ha. Ha. Ha."

Damn its circuits to hell.

"Shall we do another?" The droid asked as innocently as possible.

Before he could reply his message alert sounded. He stood up looking at his droid friend. "Saved by the bell." He said pointing at the droid walking off to their cockpit.

The droid sat a moment longer. "I can't believe you weren't referring to yourself." It took the cards in its hands and folded them into a stack before stashing them away. It's metal feet thumping on the floor as Q made his way to the cockpit.

"I said I'm done with it all Andor. I left for a reason."

"The mission is vital to the reb-"

"Every mission is vital when you've gotten beat back as much as you have."

"We are willing to pay you, Cal. Besides, you know the person you are rescuing."

Cal stared at the holo transmission a personnel file filling the space. His eyes narrowed as he starred at the Twilek's image watching the image fade back to Andor. "This is a nasty trick to pull Andor and you know it."

The man shrugged. "I do what I have to to keep the rebellion alive."

Cal leaned back into his chair watching Andor for a moment. "What does she have the can possibly so important?"

Andor's hologram flickered. "That will be something you'd have to find out yourself." He didn't offer anything more ending the transmission. A file taking his place as Cal's ship received downloads.

Cal cursed.

"Are we off to go save your life mate?"

Q asked ever so innocently.

Cal bit back his clearly cleverly thought out and witty reply. "Just download the files into your system and tell me the details..."

* * *

 **A/N: Well, here's chapter two. I'm debating on what my** **ragtag team's objective beyond the obvious should be. Like the end goal. I have plenty of excuses and time to push them together already. I'm just curious as to what they should be doing after they are all together...**


End file.
